27 March 2012
There are number of factors that motivate the practice of surrogacy around the world, including altruism, infertility, commercialism and in some cases grief. Different jurisdictions take different approaches to surrogacy law and practice in what remains an evolving area fraught with many difficulties and challenges.
Sometimes, people are motivated to turn to surrogacy through tragedy as in the recently publicised Indian case of KP Ravikumar and his wife Karthyayani. Their only son died unexpectedly of testicular cancer in January 2011, leaving behind a semen sample in case his cancer treatment left him infertile. Ravikumar and his wife recently won a court order for the release of their son’s semen which they plan to use to conceive a child through surrogacy. Their case has made headlines and brought surrogacy once again into the media spotlight.
Ravikumar, aged 59, and his wife Karthayani, aged 58, first wanted to adopt a child following the death of their son but found they were disqualified by their combined age. Motivated by their grief and sense of loss, they turned to surrogacy. They found a relative of Ravikumar who was willing to become a surrogate mother for them and they planned to sell some of their land to raise enough money to cover the costs of the surrogacy arrangement. However, their surrogate subsequently backed out following intense media publicity.
Much of the publicity surrounding this case focused on the ages of Ravikumar and his wife and their desire to have their dead son’s child. India has no formal surrogacy laws as the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill 2010 has not yet been approved. As a result, there is no formal age bar or other legal restrictions preventing them from entering into a surrogacy arrangement.
Whilst the story is compelling in its grief and tragedy, it raises a number of complex legal issues associated with ownership of their son’s semen, parenting in later life, the best interests of the surrogate born child and the regulation of surrogacy law and practice. The lack of legal uniformity of surrogacy around the world, combined with growing demand for surrogacy and assisted conception creates a number of challenges for law and policy makers. This case aptly demonstrates the overwhelming desire that can motivate some to become parents through surrogacy when all else has failed and the complex issues it can create. Assisted reproductive technology is here to stay and this makes family building possible in ways that simply was not a reality twenty or thirty years ago.
Need an expert surrogacy lawyer or fertility and family lawyer? If you would like to discuss your family building needs or you would like specialist surrogacy, fertility and family law advice contact Louisa Ghevaert by email louisa@louisaghevaertassociates.co.uk or by telephone +44 (0)20 7965 8399.
